It appears that NCL has set a new low standard that Carnival can only hope to achieve. We have sailed NCL over 8 times previously (last being 2 years ago).

Embarkation was just the start of it. We were directed to the end of a long line of young girls and waited for over 20 minutes with no movement. I finally went to the main entrance and asked one of the six NCL employees "milling around" if that was the correct line for general boarding. He stated that no, this was the line. i informed him that there were numerous families at the end of the "tour group line" and should be directed here istead. He then reluctantly walked over to inform the families that they were in the wrong line. No apologies.

Apparently there has been a shift in the business model. It seems that they have changed their model complete with cheap cruises, watered down booze, bad service, poor food, and dull ports of call in order to compete with the Carnival crowd. Suffice to say the "buckets of beer" were flowing! Read more